McGeorge law school names law professor, mediation specialist Michael Colatrella as new dean
Law school professor and mediator Michael Colatrella will take over as the new dean of the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, the University of the Pacific announced.
Colatrella, who served as interim dean for a year from 2019 to 2020, replaces Michael Hunter Schwartz, who will return to teaching at the end of this academic year, the university said Friday.
“Michael Colatrella is a student-first leader and a tireless advocate for the future of legal education and the legal profession,” University of the Pacific President Christopher Callahan said on its website. “He is the ideal person to build on the extraordinary successes of Dean Schwartz over nearly a decade.”
Colatrella is an expert in dispute resolution and conflict management. He has taught at McGeorge since 2009 and served as associated dean for academic affairs between 2015 and 2019.
A first-generation college student himself, Colatrella said he hoped to focus on supporting students through law school. He plans to enhance the school’s efforts to help students prepare for and pass California’s stringent bar exam, which saw just a 53% pass rate among all takers in July. Four months earlier, the pass rate had been just over 33%. Spring pass rates have traditionally been 20 points lower than summer test rates, according to State Bar statistics.
Colatrella also nodded to the school’s efforts to raise its profile outside of California. The school is known within the state for community service provided by its students, including serving as mediators in cases involving prisoner civil rights and a prior program involving due process claims for public school students with disabilities.
“McGeorge is an exceptional school, and I want to make sure the rest of the world knows what a wonderful institution it is,” Colatrella said.
Colatrella received his law degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey and a master’s of laws degree at New York University. He will take over as dean July 1.
